Ten
Reasons to approve Bill Lann Lee's Nomination as Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights:
Ten
Reasons to approve Bill Lann Lee's Nomination as Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights:
| 10. He builds consensus and coalitions to solve disputes. In
several key cases, he crafted settlements to solve the underlying problems
of racism without lengthy, divisive trials. For example, see Matthews
v. Coyne and McTyer v. Von's Grocery.
9. He's qualified. Throughout a twenty-three year legal career Lee has served the public through his work at the Center for Law in the Public Interest and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. 8. Lee's personality, temperament and experience make him a perfect fit for the job. Even his former legal opponents praise his approach. Los Angeles' Republican Mayor Richard Riordan says "He is not a knee jerk ideologue. He's a pragmatist, but he's also one who wants to fight for people's rights." 7. The delay is political opportunism at its worst. As recently as three weeks ago, the nomination seemed on track -- until Senate Judiciary Committee chair Orrin Hatch discovered that Lee agrees with the president who nominated him on the issue of affirmative action. 6. A president has the prerogative to nominate someone who shares his views. Is Hatch going to oppose every civil rights nominee of a pro-affirmative action president? 5. The committee's refusal threatens to undermine the Constitution. If the Senate Judiciary Committee now insists that every nominee of an opposing-party president meets the committee's ideological criteria -- rather than the president's -- the separation of powers is threatened. "Advice and consent" does not mean the Committee picks the nominees. 4. Sen. Hatch's opposition smacks of anti-Asian racism. As Karen Narasaki, executive director of the pointed out, Hatch had no qualms about supporting Seth Waxman's nomination as Solicitor General. Waxman's answers to the committee's questions about the constitutionality of affirmative action were "virtually the same," as Lee's according to the New York Times (November 7, 1997, p. A6). 3. The delay is divisive. By holding this nomination hostage for radical right wing special interests, Hatch manipulates public opinion with inaccurate definitions of affirmative action. When much of the country is trying to find the next step in eliminating racism and sexism, it is irresponsible of Hatch to make one constitutional idea a litmus test. 2. There's lots of civil rights work to be done. Every day the nomination languishes without support is another day the nation doesn't move forward toward equality. 1. Lee's background and life history give real meaning to the phrase "Horatio Alger-like story." The son of immigrant parents, brought up in a poor neighborhood, Lee graduated from Yale, earned a law degree at Columbia and worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, one of the most prestigious civil rights organizations in the country. |